Shovel Knight
More in-depth information on Shovel Knight can be found on the Shovel Knight Wiki. Shovel Knight is the star of his own self-titled, Kickstarter-funded, retro platformer by Yacht Club Games and the last of four Extra Characters introduced to Blaster Master Zero with the Version 1.3 update. He was announced alongside Shantae, but was made available for purchase/download on August 3, 2017, a month after the update was released. For the Nintendo 3DS and Switch release, he was made available for free for one month after release, then priced at USD $1.99 afterward. He and Shantae were released as paid add-ons alongside the Steam release. Appearances & Synopses ''Blaster Master Zero As with all other Extra characters, no story cutscenes are given to explain Shovel Knight's appearance in the Underground, nor his acquisition of Sophia III (or Sophia Zero, should the player meet the requirements to access Area 9). Sophia III's primary palette becomes bright blue to match Shovel Knight's armor, but its performance is otherwise unchanged. Life Capsules are changed to apples (small) and roast chickens (large), Life Ups are changed to more exotic delicacies, and major item pickup sound effects are changed to natively synthesized versions of ''Shovel Knight item pickup chimes. Jason's additional subweapons and the Energy Guard are (mostly) turned into dummy pickups, offering no benefit to Shovel Knight but counting towards the item completion rate. They are shaded in greyscale in the same manner as Jason's Life Ups/Energy Guard in Destroyer Mode. Gameplay Changes Much like Shantae, Shovel Knight eschews a Gun and high-tech subweapons in favor of his trusty Shovel Blade and an assortment of adventuring tools that are fueled by a mutual MP bar, refillable with Ammo or Gun Capsules. Not only is he immune to fall damage/fall death in side-scrolling mode, his jump height is doubled to rival the other Extra Characters' additional jump capabilities (and facilitate use of the Shovel Drop attack). As of the Version 1.4 update, he can also (mostly) freely use the "Call SOPHIA" button to rapidly retrieve his strange new steed. takes it on the chin.]] Shovel Blade THIS UNUSUAL WEAPON REQUIRES GREAT SKILL TO MASTER. Shovel Knight's trademark polearm serves as his Y button attack in both gameplay modes. Its range is even shorter than Shantae's hair whip (1 block in either mode) and it has no rapid-fire capability, but each swing has the combined power of a full Diffusion shot spread and can even deflect enemy projectiles into Shovel Knight's facing direction when timed properly. In top-down mode, deflected shots travel in a straight line, and swings are further capable of breaking cracked walls and destroying blue rocks. In side-scrolling mode, deflected shots travel in an arc that covers about 3 blocks (before any additional distance from elevation dropoffs further out), and Shovel Knight may further perform the Shovel Drop by holding Down in the middle of a jump, assaulting enemies from above and pogo-bouncing off them if they aren't immediately defeated. THE MIGHTIEST SHOVEL OF THEM ALL! UNLEASH A CHARGED SLASH, DROP SPARK, AND DIG FASTER! An upgrade to the Ultimate Shovel Blade is available at a campfire on the floating island in the upper reaches of Area 1's opening screen (where Gunvolt receives his last subweapon), giving it drastically reduced cooldown time between swings, enabling a charged strike by holding the Y button and releasing (top-down mode only), and enabling Shovel Knight to launch a shockwave projectile forward while attacking at full health (but not while in midair in side-scrolling mode). Subweapons All of Shovel Knight's subweapons are available from the start of the game, but only in top-down mode. Fishing Rod CAST INTO A PIT, AND WAIT FOR A BITE!! A 5 MP subweapon with middling performance on a land tile; Shovel Knight simply drops his line to do weak damage in the surrounding area. While facing a pool, however, he can use this to pull up a variety of things: * Recovery items * Hand grenades (previously armed) * Crabularva (if they aren't already resurfacing during their boss fight) * Turret bombs (Maybe Jason dropped them in by mistake) Throwing Anchor AN UNSTOPPABLE ARC OF DESTRUCTION. A more-or-less direct replacement of Jason's Grenades, this 15 MP subweapon is lobbed in a high arc to come down roughly four blocks ahead of Shovel Knight after a two-second hang time. Phase Locket ESCAPE FROM ALL HARM...BRIEFLY. The only subweapon in the game to grant temporary invincibility, this 20 MP subweapon turns Shovel Knight a ghastly, flickery gray for roughly five seconds. He may pass through enemies, projectiles, and hazardous terrain unimpeded, but not pools/pits. For self-evident reasons, it is unavailable in Blaster Battle Mode. War Horn CLEAR SPACE AROUND YOU WITH A POWERFUL BLOW! Shovel Knight's main form of crowd control, this subweapon lets him deal a mighty blow for a cumbersome 50 MP to moderately damage enemies in a wide radius. Armors In addition to subweapons, Shovel Knight may equip different armors for passive bonuses in top-down mode. They have no effect in side-scrolling mode but will visibly change his sprite accordingly. None of the armors provides a decrease in damage taken. Stalwart Plate YOUR ORIGINAL ARMOR. SIMPLE, BUT STURDY. Equipped by Shovel Knight at game start, it grants no special bonuses. Ornate Plate FLASHY! ACROBATIC! LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT!! Obtained by defeating the Obliteration Lasers in Area 3 (where Jason would normally obtain the Flash Bomb sub-weapon), this armor turns Shovel Knight a glittering gold and illuminates dark areas. Unequipping this armor in the middle of a dark area is the only way to dim its lights without exiting and re-entering. Blaster Master Mail CHANNEL YOUR INNER MASTER OF BLASTING! Obtained by defeating Remote Blaster in Area 6 (where Jason would normally obtain the Remote Blast subweapon), this armor gives Shovel Knight a green-trimmed red palette similar to Sophia III's default livery. While this armor is equipped and Shovel Knight has at least 10 MP to spare in top-down mode, each shovel swing will consume 10 MP to fire off four pellets in a 120-degree arc. They deal minor damage, but can melt Area 6's ice and spike tiles. Gallery BMZ_Ver13Splash.jpg|Shantae and Shovel Knight featured in the YouTube thumbnail for the Blaster Master Zero Version 1.3 trailer. Trivia * Shovel Knight is the only EX Character to display copyright data on his Character Select screen because he's the only one not previously used/licensed by Inti Creates: Gunvolt and Ekoro come from other Inti game series, and Shantae was licensed to Inti for co-development of Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. * Jason will reference (but not explicitly name) Shovel Knight when talking with Eve about the Impact Wave sub-weapon in Blaster Master Zero 2. External Links Shantae and Shovel Knight announced for Blaster Master Zero ver. 1.3 on Inti Creates Blog Category:Characters Category:Blaster Master Zero